Officials at Austin's Town Lake Animal Center have announced they've surpassed a 90% live outcome rate for the first time last month. February saw 92% of animals that entered the shelter leave alive.

The milestone means the shelter is now officially "no-kill", as defined by an implementation plan approved by city council almost one year ago.

In a memo to the city council today, interim animal services officer Filip Gecic said the shelter's rescue partners get a big share of the credit, although there were many factors that contributed to the shelter's success...

City officials will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss the future of Bull Creek District Park and get input from the community about that future. The meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 Water St.

Artists have an extra seven days to get their act together and write a proposal to create public art at the new the African-American Cultural & Heritage Facility. The building will be constructed at 912 East 11th Street near Branch Street.

Austin city leaders have been talking about banning plastic bags at stores for a while, but signs for such an ordinance look strong this year.

“We have a report that we’ve been working on, on the cost impact of plastic bags. That study has been presented to City Hall, we hope to have that in the hands of city council within a couple of weeks,” said Bob Gedert, the City of Austin’s Solid Waste Services director.

New Year’s Eve 2011 will look a little different in downtown Austin tonight. The bar and club scene will be about the same. But there won’t be a “First Night Austin” celebration, as there has been in years past.

In fact, this will be the first New Year’s Eve in six years where there has been no “First Night Austin” celebration. Organizers announced at the end of September that they didn’t have the money to stage the family-friendly downtown party this year. They’re hoping to be back to ring in 2012.

If you're driving downtown for New Year's Eve celebrations, you'll be able to park on the street for free after 5:30 p.m. That would change to midnight under a proposal being considered by the city, and local officials want to know what you think about it. Outside of downtown, the change would see street parking meters remain in effect from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. instead of the current hours of 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

Austin City Manager Marc Ott has named Abigail Smith the sole finalist for the chief animal services officer position. In a memo to the Mayor and City Council Members, Ott said the city received many positive comments about Smith -- who's currently the executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA in Ithaca, NY.

The Austin city council opened today's council meeting with a tribute to Jennifer Gale. Gale was ever-present at council meetings and ran for Mayor and several other elected positions over the years. She was also homeless. Gale was found dead two years ago tomorrow in front of a church near the UT-Austin campus.

That horrible stench you smell near garbage dumps? There's energy in those fumes!

Until fairly recently, the technology used to capture methane-rich biogas and turn it into electricity was not taken seriously as an industrial energy source. That's changing. And now the City of Austin is seeing if it should get on board.

Annoying, non-native plants are growing out of control in Lake Austin, and the city is asking the Lower Colorado River Authority to drop lake levels next month to help fend them off. Lake Austin is a stretch of the Colorado River between the Mansfield and Tom Miller dams.

The City of Austin's Solid Waste Services Department says it's going to produce a new reality TV program called Dare to Go Zero. The show would air on City of Austin's government channel and is aimed at encouraging Austinites to throw less garbage into the landfill. KUT News spoke with the City of Austin Solid Waste Services spokesperson Jennifer Herber about the project.

The City's Planning & Development Review Department issued a news release this morning saying that the City of Austin and the Cathedral of Junk reached an agreement to keep the structure on the property.